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Intro:
Tonight, we will continue a study entitled, [Praying with Paul.]
The subject of my message is [We Have an Inheritance.]
Last year we established that everything the Early Church did was built on the foundation of prayer.
They communicated with God and He answered.
I have often wondered what it was like for the Apostles.
Most of them knew Jesus while He was alive.
Take Peter for example, he was in Jesus’s inner circle.
He knew Him personally.
He remembered Jesus as a person, but trusted Him and spoke to Him after the resurrection as the Risen Savior.
I would say Peter prayed in a way none of us could really understand.
Paul on the other hand, he was alive while Jesus lived, but we have no record of any conversations between Jesus and Paul before Jesus ascended to heaven.
Saul of Tarsus would have known about Jesus’s:
reputation
ministry
and following
But everything we know about him tells us that he would have despised everything Jesus of Nazareth stood for and believed.
It was not until a few years AFTER the resurrection of Jesus that Paul even had an encounter with the Lord.
But that is not to say Paul did not know Jesus.
Once God saved Paul, he dove headfirst into the waters of salvation.
God responded by giving Paul revelation.
Beyond Paul’s teachings, we see that he had personal encounters with Jesus.
Those times with the Lord fueled his desire to pray and seek God.
When someone has genuinely experienced God, it will cause them to want to pray and spend time with Him.
Thankfully, Paul wrote some of the prayers he prayed.
So far this year, we have spent time looking at how Paul prayed for the Ephesian church.
He wanted God to give them wisdom and revelation.
Wisdom being knowing how to apply God’s word to our lives.
Revelation being a supernatural understanding of God’s word.
Then Paul prayed that God would increase their hope in the calling God had on their lives.
Now, we see that God gave His people something important— an inheritance.
Let’s spend a few minutes looking at our inheritance.
I have three points, [What we Possess], [Who we Praise], and [What we Protect].
Let’s begin
1.
What we Possess
When we think of the riches, we must think of something that costs us a lot.
I looked up riches in the Thesaurus and here were some similar words—
wealth
money
property
gold
assets
plenty
fortune
substance
treasure
Before we attempt to estimate what God is worth to us, we should first recognize what we are to God.
We mean everything to Him.
A relationship with humanity was so important that He gave HIS ONLY begotten Son for us.
We possess a relationship with God, through Jesus, being drawn closer by the Holy Spirit.
The weight of our relationship with God should get our attention.
We mean so much to him.
Therefore our relationship with Him is better than all the riches of the world.
Remember the old song, I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold, I’d rather be his than have riches untold.
Then to be the king of a vast domain or be held in sin’s dread sway, I’d rather have Jesus than anything, this world affords to bear.”
Our lives are so much richer because we have a relationship with Jesus.
It is to our benefit to sit back and think of how our lives have been enriched by the Lord.
Doing so will cause to appreciate Him that much more.
What do people do with riches?
Do they put them out for everyone to see?
Do they handle them in a hasty manner?
No, people protect their riches.
They lock up their fine jewelry, they put important documents in a safe deposit box, they seal their investments to ensure they are safe.
Likewise, we must protect our relationship with God.
We should never cheapen what He has done for us by a lack of appreciation and giving him proper place in our lives.
Salvation is a prized possession.
We should always put God first, He enriches our lives.
Paul wanted God’s people to have the spirit of wisdom and revelation, that we might know the hope of our calling, and realize the riches, what we possess.
2. Who we Praise
Ephesians 1:18
Glory.
Greatness, splendor, majesty.
It is interesting that God gives us the riches, but He gets all the glory.
We are enriched by God’s grace.
But the glory belongs to the Lord.
ONLY God is worthy of ALL GLORY!
Glory belongs to God, because He stands forever enthroned in a place of honor.
There is a reason Jesus closed out His prayer, for thine if the KINGDOM, the power, and the GLORY, forever, and ever amen.
The glory of God is the atmosphere of heaven.
The whole earth is full of His glory.
In the New Jerusalem, we will not need a sun, or moon, or stars, for the glory of the God will enlighten the city.
What then is our response to God’s great glory?
Our response to God’s glory is to take time and glorify Him.
We should GLORIFY Him.
Glorify means to positively acknowledge, recognize, or esteem one’s character, nature, or attributes.
Every time we praise and worship God, we are glorifying the ONE who is worthy of ALL praise and glory.
We should take time every day to glorify God for who He is and for what we possess.
Paul wanted God’s people to have the spirit of wisdom and revelation, that we might know the hope of our calling, and realize the riches, what we possess, of
3. What we Protect
We are enriched because of salvation
We glorify in the one who possesses all glory
But Paul added one more element to this passage— the riches and glory of our inheritance.
In Scripture an inheritance was, property that changes ownership to a descendant (especially to a firstborn male) upon the death of a parent (usually the father).
I am thankful for salvation, we do not deserve what God freely gives.
But now Paul discusses an inheritance.
What more could the God of the universe give us?
Why would He see fit to bless us with an inheritance?
It has been a part of His plan all along.
Paul was not the first to mention our inheritance?
We see a theme.
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